On Philip K Dick Day

Philip Kindred Dick (b. 16 Dec 1928) was a writer known mostly for his science fiction, largely cheaply published "pulp" novels which made him very little money, but have wound up being made into films, mostly since his death.

In 1974, he began to have a series of mystic visions involving encounters with "living information" that resulted in the novel "VALIS" and a bunch of other, very Gnostic writings. Seen through the lense of these later works, Phil's entire bibliography seems pretty Gnostic in flavour. Phil died after a stroke in 1982.

Among online Gnostic writers, Phil is consistently lauded as one of the most plausible Gnostic saints of the 20th Century. Jung probably wrote better poetry, Hans Jonas probably had better philosophy, GRS Mead (among others) brought more classical Gnostic texts to light, bit no-one gave us a better picture of how much Gnosticism made sense as a way to view the modern predicament than St. Phil.

One of St Phil's core ideas was that in the modern world, the Divine sneaks into the world through discarded, ignored aspects of manifestation, through the trash and rubbish of modern, mundane life.

To celebrate St Phil's Day, I'm asking everyone to bring along some glittery rubbish to dress the chapel for the day. Something shiny or garish, feel free to drop into a bargain shop and buy some really tacky religious paraphenalia. Don't spend more than $20. We'll dress the chapel together and share some ideas about the ways the Divine is hidden where we least expect Her.

All welcome, please let me know if you're planning to come along.

Intent for the 3rd Sunday in Advent: Recognition of the Messenger
Readings

from 6pm: Dressing of the Chapel
from 7pm: Logos Liturgy including meditations on recognition of the Hidden Divine.

More to read about St. Phil:
PhilipKDick.com
PKD on Wikipedia
PKD on Wikiquote
"Philip K. Dick's Divine Interference" by Erik Davis